Mom's one year prayer & Brownies

So January 22nd was the one year anniversary of my mom's passing. As a result, we had some of her closest friends from church and our family come over to our house Saturday night to gather, remember, and pray for her. Of course whenever our family gathers or invites people over there is a lot of food to eat. Since I'm still working on my Vietnamese cooking.. and my family doesn't exactly praise my Vietnamese cooking... my aunts/uncles brought the food over. My dad also went out to buy some roasted pig and duck as well. Here is what we primarily had that night:
-Noodles w/ pork
-Roasted pig
-Roasted duck
-Sweetened sticky rice
-Ca Ri Ga (curried chicken soup)
-Bo Kho (beef stew)
-Chicken
-Tons of noodles and bread



I also tried a new recipe/technique for making brownies. I used unsweetened cocoa powder in the recipe instead of chips. It turned out very very rich- for those who enjoy dark chocolate, this would be the ultimate brownies for you. My cousin also came over to help me bake these. I had some water simmering in a pot, and put a safe bowl over it. In the bowl, I first melted the butter, then added in sugar + salt, and finally added the cocoa powder. Took it off of the pot and let it cool down a little bit. Then added the vanilla, eggs one by one, and last- the flour. Put it into a square baking pan and about 20 minutes later they're done. They may not look like much changes on the top from the time you put it in, but make sure you check it with a toothpick because it is done.. I had them out on the counter waiting to cool down after they were done baking and my aunt asked me if I was waiting to bake them. These brownies are not fluffy but rich and almost fudgey.